1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an infrared gas grill and is more particularly concerned with an apparatus and process for cooking food items, particularly meats.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the past, numerous outdoor grills have been devised. Charcoal was primarily used as a fuel for such grills; however, more recently, both natural gas and liquified petroleum gas grills have become available on the market. Such prior art gas grills usually employ metal burners which are provided with a plurality of holes and through which combustible mixtures of gas and air are fed for heating refractory brickettes which are placed on a grate above the burner. The gases of combustion pass upwardly through a gridiron which supports the meat or other items to be cooked. The grease and other liquids from the meat drop onto the brickettes and are, at times, vaporized for producing the "charcoal flavor" characteristic of meats which are cooked over an open flame.
Also, in some commercial restaurants, radiant burners have been employed for cooking hamburger patties which are successively placed on the upper flight of a moving continuous chain conveyor which passes over a plurality of these radiant burners.
The prior art gas grills require several minutes in order to heat up the refractory brickettes, prior to the time that the grill is employed for cooking purposes. Such prior art grills generally do not distribute the heat evenly and, therefore, uneven cook the meats. With such prior art grills, it is usually difficult to sear the meat rapidly or assure that the meat is uniformly seared.